TICK TOCK
I sometimes get rent envelopes with flakes of floor varnish inside. Tenants also occasionally send dead bugs. Sometimes they send poems. The most common enclosure is a Post-It stating “the bank has screwed up my bank account again,” and that’s why there’s only half a month’s rent.
One tenant sent me a padded mailer stamped FRAGILE.
I held that package at arm’s length, pulled the ripcord, and thought about the Unabomber.
Tick tock. There was a watch inside. It was a chromatic watch; the face had C-C#-D-D# instead of numbers.
The tenant wrote he really appreciated his apartment and said his dad owned the Chromatic Watch Company. I could also get a watch with Circle of 4ths or Circle of 5ths if I wanted.
I dropped off two Yiddishe Cup CDs at the tenant’s door as a thank-you.
I used to give all the tenants gifts. It was a hassle and expensive. I gave everybody a box of Malley’s chocolates at Christmas. We would make sure the tenant was home; we didn’t just put the candy by the door; somebody might steal it.
I gave up on it. The candy man routine was costing me about $1,000/year. Very few people were thanking me.
Also, I used to take the building managers to Miller’s Dining Room for dinner. Then Miller’s burned down.
We tried an Italian place after that. It wasn’t the same. Miller’s was the gentile response to Corky & Lenny’s deli. The seasoned waitresses at Miller’s circulated with huge platters of sticky buns, corn sticks and muffins. No pickles. My building managers — who were all older than me then — really like the small-town Ohio vibe. The favorite main dish was chicken a la king.
I would thank the managers on behalf of my family, including my dad, who was usually in Florida that time of year.
Maybe I should do those dinners again.
I probably won’t. Now I’m older than most of the managers. The younger custodians like the cold cash.
Miller’s was fun. The young people would have liked the sticky buns.
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1 of 2 posts for 12/23/09. Please see the post below too.
5 comments
What a great holiday blog! I hope you decide to do a dinner for your managers. Even if folks don’t take the time to write a thank you, and fewer do these days, it creates comaraderie and good will.
As far as the box of candy for tenants — folks like me who struggle with weight never appreciate having temptation thrown in our way. Still, I love the generosity of spirit that comes across in your blog. Here’s looking forward to more great blogs in 2010.
Oy! Do I remember Miller’s. Yes, the sticky buns, et al, made that place a sellout almost all of the time. The rest of the food, as you tactfully mention, was not above the ordinary. Good but not great. Nevertheless, the sticky buns were the draw. You could eat dessert first, with butter slathered on too. Wonder why no one ever made a sustained effort to replicate that.
Some years later, came Max’s deli in Rocky River. No sticky buns but did they pile the meat on your sandwich like Corky’s, Solomon’s, et al. And most of all the cake and pie desserts that looked like just one would feed the entire table. That ended, though not the name. Can’t remember whether it was divorce or what. Different ways to burn your restaurant, it seems.
Bert, you have an interesting way of writing about food. Very descriptive, got my taste buds going. Miller’s sounds like an interesting restaurant.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a corn stick. Corn dogs, yes, but never a corn stick.
Can you leave a recipe or tell me where to find one in your next blog.
I hate to tell you this, but it’s “unabomber,” not “unibomber.” I think it refers to United Nations or something. Sorry my only comment is negative. ;-)
Thanks for the correction, Alan. Just changed to Unabomber (from Unibomber).
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